2026, August 17-23

Summer is almost done! Boo! UM had move in week, and Mike will start classes Monday. We enrolled Eliza at her new school(s) and will have to see what that looks like. Hallie has her fingers crossed that she will get hired at a local school. Summer and school: Both six-letter words, but the former was much more fun. 

Mike had on campus meetings during the week leading into the start of classes next week. He put the teacup he got in Little Tokyo to work with his favorite yerba combo. 

This is Hallie's work setup. Caleb suggested she get a camp chair to use instead of the folding one. Hopefully she doesn't have to worry about either if she can get the paraprofessional job she interviewed for last week. 

Fergus graced us with multiple bleps.

The deer graced us with multiple close sightings. These two fawns are on opposite sides of the chain link fence. The one on the left is about to bolt because of Fergus (not in frame). 

We moved a couple of chairs to the front yard so we could people watch and enjoy the cool early evening breeze. Eliza went out earlier in the day on Tuesday, and Ferg decided to join her. 

We had a bit of wind later in the day, so she and Dad went kite flying on the Oval. Sometimes due to the way the cross breezes flow, it's challenging to get the kite up. 

Eventually we did make it. Campus has been full of people now that students are moving back in. That feeling of this being "our" backyard has come to an end. This includes the blackberries. Someone else discovered the blackberry plant and made off with a number of berries Mike had left to ripen a little longer. Good thing he enjoyed the ones he had. 

Eliza went riding a couple of times with Drue this week. On Wednesday, Mom dropped her off before getting Dad so they could look at a house to buy. 

Here are the girls getting prepped for their ride. Here she is riding a horse named Payday.

While they were out, we joined our long-suffering realtor at a house in a neighborhood we've been interested in. The house we looked at had many nice features despite being on the flight path to the airport. That said, we have a feeling it's going to be a while before we get the house for us.  

Here is a close up of Eliza and Payday. She seems to really get a lot out of her time with the ponies. 

She also has spent a lot of time exploring different parts of town. In the evening, she climbed Mt. Sentinel the hard way and went to the copper mine before climbing down by way of the switchbacks below the block M. 

Fortunately, the air has been clearer this week thanks to some late-day thunderstorms. 

Mike woke up with vertigo Thursday morning that turned out to be the early symptom of a migraine. It's been a while since he had one of those. The timing could have been better considering he had his college's annual gathering today. But migraines don't obey schedules. He got to feeling somewhat better in the afternoon, or at least well enough to get some needed business done on campus. As he left, he caught sight of the marching band practicing for their number after Friday's State of the University Address. 

Hallie took some pictures of the painted bear tracks that have been updated for the new school year. 

She appreciated this banner over by Starbucks on campus. 

Mike appreciated in-coming President Shinn's address Friday. He resonates strongly with the message of "We serve students. We serve Montana." Let's get to work! After Friday's address, the campus community had a brief reception while the band played. 

As mentioned above, We caught Ferg blepping a couple of times this week. Here's part two. 

And the deer. Here's part two too. 

On Saturday, we went over to Rockin' Rudy's to get out of the house. The hanging plants outside the store have really grown. 

I mean, who doesn't? 

Later in the day, Mike took one of his customary campus walks. Dramatic skies to the west did not disappoint. We didn't end up going to the River City Roots fest or the concert at the Adams Center. Other opportunities will come. 

We joined Eliza and Drue and her daughter Lucy at the Big Sky Horse Park (as of today, Eliza is now a member). The girls went riding while Eliza's parents watched. It turned out to be a delightful time with great weather. 90 acres of preset jumps. What a beautiful experience it was for Eliza, Mom, and Dad. Eliza is a great sport, really. Drue called in the morning asking if Eliza wanted to go, and mere moments later the girl got up to go without a complaint. Eliza had only been to the park as a spectator before. This move to Montana has done great things for this amazing girl.

Later in the day, we went over to the area around the Southgate Mall. First we stopped at World Market because there's always something fun to find there. That sun looks an awful lot like the Sol de Mayo.

Our real reason for attending was to get swag at the annual SCHEELS Griz Fest. 

In the store, Monte sneaked up on Eliza. Mike was highly amused. 

Of course, we had to grab some gear for next Saturday's game against Southern Utah University (sorry, Jocie). UM truly is the family you choose. 

We also got an "exclusive" yard sign to put in the yard. Up with Montana! 

 

2026, August 10-16

We took a quick trip down to Utah to return Kai to his other home, watch a banana ball game, and visit family. But first, Eliza had some adventures at home. 

As we counted down to Kai's last day with us, Hallie took many pictures. In this picture, for some reason he just started starring at Hallie like he was really looking at her.

Eliza had the chance to ride in a branch of the Clark Fork River with Drue and Emma at Council Grove State Park. 

Coming home from work at lunchtime, Mike found Fergus dining on some mushrooms. Mike promptly removed the kitty and tried to ID the 'shrooms in question. Fortunately, they're not (very) poisonous, and Ferg didn't seem to experience any negative side effects. 

Missoula has been shrouded in wildfire smoke for the last couple of weeks. Early this week we had quite a bit, to the point that we could smell it indoors. It made for a rather disturbing setting sun.  

Hallie and Kai got quite close to some deer who were curious about the pup. 

In turn, the pup was curious about what Eliza was doing to his toy (repairing it). Kai could not return to Brittany without his favorite toy ready to go. Thank you to Bridle Up Hope - Mapleton who taught Eliza to sew.

On his last day in town, Kai got a pup cup from the Starbucks ladies. We don't often give Kai people food but why not a celebration for the road.

On our drive down, we drove through areas that were even smokier than Missoula. Here we are outside Dillon, where a local grocery store cashier commented to Mike about how disturbed she felt by it all. 

After a few hours on the road, we made it to Kai's other family's house. We had a bittersweet reunion/departure. We have loved being part of Kai's life, and leaving him while knowing he's going to other people who love him has brought up many emotions. We've all shed many tears. 

We stayed at Hallie's parents place, which meant Mike got to take walks in the field behind the house and around the neighborhood hills, taking the occasional photo while listening to an audiobook and trying to manage arising issues at his dad's house at a distance. 

The flowers do bring a sense of the beautiful (if fleeting) parts of life. 

Cute Shelby did Hallie's nails Thursday morning.

Eliza proved to he a great helper around the house. Even if Papa didn't want her to load the dishwasher, Eliza was stealthy and got her dishes in without him knowing.

Hallie went on several visits to Utah friends, bringing loaves of huckleberry bread along for the ride. We bought some 20 loaves to share, most of which found recipients eager to have a taste.

After a visit to Starbucks and Smiths Hallie headed over to Freedom Credit Union where Reyna works. Hallie mention business was slow and so Reyna and Hallie had a lot of time to chat. What a pleasure to be able to spend quality time with friends. 

We had relatively cooler than expected weather, including some rain from dark and lowering clouds on International Lefthanders' Day. 

After an underwhelming amount of rain, three local bucks came out to eat in the grove. 

In the evening, we had dinner and visits with Landon, Jocie, and Amanda. 

We had a long Friday, starting with Hallie and Eliza rising early so E could ride up West Mountain with Leslie and Gwen.  

Meanwhile, Hallie got a long-overdue hairdo appointment. Thank you, Jamie!!

Mike took advantage of the relative peace to get some work and walking in. Autumn Semester is coming up way too quickly! 

Here are a couple of pics of Hallie's new 'do. 

Once E got back from her ride, Mike and Gma drove down to pick her up. In the meantime, E made friends with Leslie's newest addition, a kitten named Creamer. 

Hallie had more visits with friends at Smith's. Hallie squeezed in a job interview from a parking lot along University Avenue via Google Meet.

Thank you for my amazing drink Brooke!!

Alicia and Hallie went to lunch at Joe Vera's. There is not enough time for us to hang out together. Even though we are different we have so much fun together.

Mike rousted a coven of quail from the backyard while enjoying a few ripe raspberries from the garden. 

Then it was time to head out to the Ballpark at American First Square in Daybreak, where the Salt Lake Bees usually now play. However, tonight we watched the Party Animals vs. the Firefighters play banana ball. If you've never heard of this sport, you should give it a look! Hallie got tickets via online lottery a few months back. It's quite popular among those in the know. The Party Animals played as the home team, so everything was themed in its colors. But as we have a firefighter in the family with Uncle Shad, of course we rooted for the Firefighters!  

Mike really liked the look of one of the Bees new alternate logos, and Hallie encouraged him to get it on a new ball cap. 

Time to party! Eliza got a Firefighters jersey to show her support. This meant getting heckled by the cheerleaders. 

These bracelets lit up in sync with others around the ballpark. 

Pharty the mascot shot E for having the audacity to wear the wrong team colors. 

The crowd entertainment included contests and a bit of beefcake from the players.

And the Firefighters won! Great job, team! 

We got home late, and then on Saturday Hallie got up early for breakfast with Cristy. 

Mike and Eliza woke up later, and Mike took in the tranquil views while enjoying some mate. 

We neglected to mention Fergus's whereabouts while the rest of us were down south. He stayed at Quick Paws in Missoula. We got a picture of him in his cat condo. He seems . . . less than happy with the situation. Nonetheless, he had a positive experience, and we're grateful he was safe while we were away. 

Eliza joined Hallie visiting folks in Springville. We stopped by Tara and her place of employment at Harward Farms. After visiting with Cristy's kids, we headed to Kohar's. Eliza also took a quick peek into our old house. She later noted that the new owner has good home decor taste. 

Hallie and Mike and Priscilla and Miguel got together and went out for dinner at Asado in Orem. 

The Melos even brought Mike back a jersey from the Argentina World Cup team! We ate like kings (or pigs), if you can't tell. 

After dinner, Mike, Eliza, and Landon (fresh off of work) went to the late showing of the new Spider Man movie. This meant a really late bedtime for Mike just in time for a long drive a few short hours later. 

And then it was time to return to Missoula. We started early, got up there in time to pick up Fergus (who then spent the rest of the evening going in and out of the house, meowing the whole time. Was he looking for Kai?). 

Speaking of Kai, as we turned on to our last leg of the trip along I-90 in Montana, Kai's other dog mom called asking about whether we'd consider continuing the co-owner relationship with some modifications based on circumstances that arose after we had arranged for Kai to be rehomed with her permanently, including possibly having Kai be rehomed permanently with us. This was a huge and welcome surprise. We all love Kai so much and want him to have as much love as he can. While we don't know what the new situation will be quite yet, We're elated to know we'll be seeing more Kai possibly sooner than later. 

And another sweet note: Mike still had plenty of blackberries to harvest from the plant on campus. 

We didn't have enough time to see everyone and do everything we wanted to while in Utah. We are sure there will be another trip in the future. Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma M, for being great hosts!